EVERYONE LOVES A BRIDE… AND LAW & ORDER: SVU STAR KELLI GIDDISH

April 8, 2015 By Sophisticated Weddings

Everyone loves a bride. We know this. We’ve all seen it; a bride in Central Park or along the Hudson River, or in Grand Central, or at some other iconic spot in New York City, in a gorgeous dress, holding a bouquet, and being photographed by her [wedding] photographer. We all stop to watch. Often, passersby will take out their iPhones to snap a quick pic to share later with a friend, a loved one… Instagram. Everyone loves a bride. Because we know when we see a bride, we are seeing a person’s happiest moment. It is a moment when she feels like a princess, and it is a moment that lasts all day.

Here’s another familiar sight for many New Yorkers and visitors to our great city: a “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” production crew. Since 1999, this NBC series has been shooting on location in and around New York City. For close to two decades “SVU” production trucks and make-up trailers have lined a New York city block for day. It is difficult to impress a New Yorker. It is hard to slow a Manhattanite’s purposeful walk. But-admit it- we slow down to steal a glimpse of Mariska Hargitay or Ice-T… or Kelli Giddish.

Sophisticated Weddings: New York Edition recently did a photo shoot with “Law & Order: SVU” star Kelli Giddish for Volume II of our 2015 Edition. Kelli modeled several amazing wedding dresses for a shoot that took place at The Carlton Hotel, mostly in private suites and in the hotel’s Bar & Lounge. However, for the last dress, the shoot moved outside.

Kelli strolled out of The Carlton’s entrance onto lower Madison Avenue in an amazing Anne Barge dress, accessorized with exquisite Christopher Designs jewelry, while holding a bouquet by FleursBELLA. Photographer Brian Hatton directed Kelli into the middle of the avenue, amongst the cabs, buses, and other traffic. As Brian snapped away while Kelli slowly moved towards him, people on the sidewalks stopped to watch. Taxi drivers who had the green stayed put to accommodate the photos… and we all know New York cabbies don’t stop for anything!

As the pedestrians started to take iPhone photos of this bride in the middle of Madison Avenue, they realized something; this was not just a bride. This was Detective Amanda Rollins from “Law & Order: SVU”! It was a double whammy- a bride and a TV star in one.

This shoot for the 2015 Sophisticated Weddings: New York Edition Volume II (available for purchase in June) was made possible by some of our favorite vendors, locations, designers, and products. A special thanks goes out to The Carlton Hotel for inviting us to utilize such an amazing backdrop. Having Brian Hatton Photographywith us ensured that we can deliver our readers some seriously incredible images within this feature. Without the beautiful designs from Anne Barge, Tony Ward (provided by Kleinfeld), and Karen Willis Holmes, such style would not have been possible. Fleurs Bella created aromatic florals that exuded romance, while the dazzling diamond jewelry provided by Christopher Designs was nothing short of mesmerizing. Valerie Star of Caravan Stylist Studiowas an absolute rockstar- she was on set with us to provide beauty services, from hair to make-up to nail design, but she went above and beyond in every task and did so much more. Having high quality products on set was an absolute essential, and we are so thankful to have had COLOR CLUB nail lacquer, FAKE BAKE Flawless, LIFTLAB,  Vaseline® Spray & Go™, Physician’s Formula Cosmetics, FOREO, and NOT YOUR MOTHERS hair products.

The 2015 Sophisticated Weddings: New York Edition is currently available for purchase on newsstands andonline. Volume II featuring the editorial feature with Kelli Giddish will be released in June.